Wood rechipper feeder



woon nncrnrrnn rnnnnn Norman F. Dettrnering, Waasan, and Qlarenee W.Miller,

Application Gctober 13, 15 532, Serial l' o. 314,434

5 Claims. CE. 24192) The present invention relates generally toimprovements in the art of paper production, and relates morespecifically to improvements in devices for rechipping the rejects fromprimary or initial wood chippers in paper mills.

The principal object of our invention is to provide an improvedre-chipper for the rejects from previous wood chipping operations inpaper mills or the like, which is simple in construction and efiicientin operation.

it has heretofore been proposed as in Patent No. 2,582,537 grantedJanuary 15, 1952, to provide a wood re-chipper with an elongatedvibratory downwardly inclined feed trough or hopper having relativelylaterally inclined opposite side walls of gradually increasingangularity approaching the outlet end of the trough, and wherein thelower hopper end is slidably rested upon and supported by a stationaryinclined V-shaped feed spout leading to the cutting or re-chipping zone.The vibratory feeding motion of the trough-like hopper is produced bymounting the medial portion of the trough upon arcuate leaf springs andby applying rapid rotary motion to an unbalanced flywheel journalledupon the upper end of the hopper, and while this type of vibratingmechanism is capable of functioning in a satisfactory manner, the hoppertrough should be freely movable and any sliding or other contact thereofwith stationary structure such as the fixed feed spout tends toneutralize the vibratory action and to retard the fiow of materialtoward the re-chipper blades. Then too, the opposite sides of the hoppershould preferably be uniformly laterally inclined throughout theirlengths and should preferably terminate in a flat bottom instead of asharp V-angle in order to further eliminate retardation of the flow ofmaterial toward the chipper feed spout and cutting blades, and tomaintain a steady and uninterrupted feed to the cutting zone.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to providevarious improvements in the construction and operation of re-chippers ofthe general type embodying an elongated downwardly inclined vibratorymaterial feeding hopper cooperating with a fixed feed spoutcommunicating with the reduction zone, whereby most effectiveadvancement of the material is insured at all times.

Another important object of this invention is to provide an improvedwood re-chipping unit in which the stationary inclined feed spout of thechipper coacts with a freely floating vibratory feed hopper in a mannerwhereby retardation to the flow of fresh material is eliminated and thevibratory feeding motion is most effectively util zed.

A further important object of our invention is to provide an improvedre-chipper assemblage for wood chip rejects, wherein the material isdelivered into the rechipper feed spout from a vibratory inclined feedtrough having specially formed side walls and a bottom for avoidingobstruction to the flow of material therealong.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a United. StatesPatent ice simple, compact and durable wood re-chipping instal lationwhich is power driven to automatically perform its intended functionmost effectively and with minimum attention.

These and other more specific objects and advantages of the inventionwill be apparent from the following detailed description from which itwill be apparent that the gist of the invention is the provision of achipping unit for the rejects of previous chipping operation, wherein are-chjpper having blades cooperable with a fixed inclined feed spout oranvil cooperates with an elongated similarly inclined freely floatingvibratory trough or hopper having a flat bottom and uniformly laterallyinclined opposite side Walls, so as to insure most effective utilizationof the vibratory motion in advancing the material toward the re-chippingZone with minimum retardation to the flow of said material.

A clear conception of the several features constituting our presentinvention and of construction and operation of a commercial re-chippingunit embodying the same, may be had by referring to the drawingsaccompanying and forming a part of this specification wherein likereference characters designate the same or similar parts in the variousviews.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved re-chipping unit completelyassembled and ready for commercial operation;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the vibratory inclined material feeding troughor hopper, looking downwardly toward its upper end;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken along the line 33 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is a view looking toward the floating resilient support for thelower end of the vibrating feed hopper, viewed in the direction of thearrows 4-4 of Fig. 1.

While the invention has been illustrated and described herein as havingbeen embodied in a belt driven re-chipping unit wherein vibratory motionis imparted to the feeding hopper by one-or more rapidly revolvingeccentric weights carried by the upper hopper end, it is not the in tentto unnecessarily restrict the utility of the improved features by virtueof this limited embodiment, and it is also contemplated that specificdescriptive terms employ-ed herein be given the broadest possibleinterpretation consistent with the disclosure Referring to the drawing,the commercial rechipping installation illustrated therein, comprises ingeneral a sturdy main frame or base 6; a chipping rotor 7 carrying anannular series of approximately radial knives 8 revolvable in a verticalplane within a housing or casing 9 by means of a shaft 19 journalied inbearings 11, both the casing 9 and the bearings 19 being mounted on oneend of the base 6; a stationary inclined anvil or feed spout 12 and anadjustable bed knife 13 carried by a bracket 14 also mounted upon thebase 6 adjacent to the rotor housing 9; an elongated downwardly inclinedfeed trough or hopper 35 having its medial portion mounted upon andbeing resiliently supported by means of one or more curved leaf springs16; an unbal nced vibrating rotor 17 for the hopper 15 carried by atransverse shaft it? journalled in bearings 19 secured to the upperportion of the hopper trough; a power shaft 20 having a sheave 21drivingly connected by flexible endless V-belts 22 with the rotor 16,the shaft 2% being journalled in bearings 23 which together with thesprings 16 are supported by a pedestal 24 carried by the end of the base6 remote from the chipper; and several sets of resilient elements orhelical springs 25, 26 coacting with opposite sides of a flange 27rigidly associated with the lower end of the hop per 15, and beingadjustably secured to the bracket 14 to floatingly support the lowerhopper end in spaced relation to the fixed anvil spout 11.

through the assemblage,

, The chipper rotor 7, cutting knives or blades 8, and housing or casing9 are of relatively standard and well known construction, and the rotordriving shaft 19 may vided with a rigid shelf 32 which cooperates withthe floating support for the lower end of the hopper 15 in. a manner tobe subsequently described.

The elongated downwardly inclined vibratory hopper 15 is of improvedconstruction and comprises a pair of laterally inclined opposite sidewalls 34 which are fiat and uniformly inclined throughout their entirelengths, and a flat bottom plate 35 firmly connecting the lower edges ofthe walls 34. The side Walls 34 are of gradually de- 52%,.

creasing height in a direction approaching the spout 12, and the bottom35 is also of gradually diminishing width in the same direction andserves to materially reinforce the side walls and to strengthen thehopper 15. The

hopper is also further reinforced by a frame 36 to which the springs 16and bearings 19 are secured.

it is extremely important to floatingly support the' lower end of thefeed trough or hopper 15 so that the vibratory feeding motion impartedthereto by the unbalanced revolving weights of the rotor 17 will not bedampened or otherwise interfered with, and the springs 25, 26 whichcoact with the opposite sides of the flange 27 provide such a resilientfloating support. These helical springs 25, 26 surround upright studs 38the lower ends of which are adjustably secured to the shelf32 by nuts39, and the ends of the springs 25,26 remote from the nuts 41 movablealong the studs 38 to vary the spring tension; see Figs. 1 and 4-. Thelower end of the hopper 15 is thus constantly resiliently supported inspaced relation to the upper end of the fixed anvil spout 12 and liner30 as illustrated in Fig. 3, and never touches these fixed elements.

When the improved unit has been properly constructed and assembled asabove described, the chipping rotor 7 may be rotated at high speed byapplying power to the sheave 29 so as to cause the knives 8 to rapidlyrevolve in a vertical plane closely adjacent to the fixed anvil spout 12and bed knife 13. The feed hopper 15 may be simultaneously vibrated byapplying power to the shaft thereby causing the unbalanced rotor 17 torevolve and to impart vibratory motion to the leaf springs 16. Thematerial which is to be re-chipped may then be delivered into the upperend of the hopper 15 and will gradually advance between the inclinedside walls 34 and along the flat bottom 35 toward the chipping zone, andwill eventually fall off of the lower hopper end into the spout liner 30from which it will be delivered by gravity into the path of therevolving knives 8.

The unit thus functions to effectively re-chip' the oversize materialobtained from previous chipping operations, and the formation of the.hopper 15 with uniformly inclined opposite side walls 34 and V a flatbottom 35 permits elongated pieces and slivers to properly adjustthemselves as they advance along the hopper under the influence of thevibratory feed motion. Clogging of the hopper .15 is thus positivelyeliminated, and the free floating motion at the lower end'of this hopperalso definitely avoids retardation and dampening of the vibratoryfeeding motion and insures rapid'progress of the material n at along thefeed trough. The liner 30 of the fixed anvil spout 12 may be adjusted toinsure proper cooperation with the knives S, with the aid of the jackscrews 31; and the position of the lower hopper end relative to thisliner 39 may be varied by adjusting the nuts 39 coacting with the studs38, while the tension of the springs 25, 26 may be altered bymanipulating the nuts 41 which engage the washers 40. i

From the foregoing "detailed description it will be apparent that thepresent invention in'fact provides an improved re-chipper for reiec'tsfrom primary wood chipping operations, which is simple in construction,and

highly efiicient in operation due to the improved mounting and formationof the feed trough or hopper 15. The freely floating hopper permits thevibratory motion to be most efiectively utilized for feeding purposes,while the uniformly inclined opposite side walls 34 cooperate with.

the flat bottom 35 to insure free flow of irregular pieces of diversesizes and shapes along the feed trough. The

various parts of the unit are also readily adjustable so as to insuremost effective functioning, and the improved assemblage has provenhighly satisfactory and efiective in actual commercial use.

It should be understood that it'is not desired to limit this inventionto the exact. details of construction and operation of the re-chipperherein shown and described, for various modifications within the scopeof the appended claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

\Ve claim: w

1. A re-chipper for rejects from wood chipping operations, comprising, achipper having revolving blades cooperable with a rigidly mountedinclined trough-like feed flange 27 coact with washers 41 which engageadjusting said hopper end closely adjacent to but constantly spaced.

- out the entire length of the hopper.

spout for delivering the material to be rechipped to the blades, anelongated vibratory feed hopper inclined downwardly toward. the upper.end of saidspout transversely,

of the path of revolution of said blades, means at the lower end of saidspout for freely floatingly supporting elements between which saidflanges are interposed to provide a flexible support. V

3. A re-chipper as per claim2, wherein the resilient elements arehelical springs provided with means for varying the pressures exerted bythe springs against the intervening flange.

4. A re-chipper as per hopper has opposite walls of diminishing heightproceed: ing toward the lower hopper end,'and in which said walls areplane and have uniform relative inclination through- 5. A re-chipper-asper claim hopper has a plane bottom of gradually decreasing proceedingtoward the lower hopper end.

4, wherein the elongated References Cited in the file of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 23,650 Flateboec; May 5, 1953 529,219 ThompsonNov. 13, 1894 666,211 Shortt Jan. 15, 1901 943,965 Boutell Dec. 21, 19091,029,998 Joplin June 18, 1912 1,129,866 Hamel Mar. 2, 1915 1,515,377White 'Nov. 11, 1924 2,417,878 Luzietti Mar. 25,1947 2,582,537 FlateboeJan. 15,1952.

claim 1, wherein theelongated 7 width

